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More than 48 hours after waking up -- on his birthday no less -- to a headline labelling him a deadbeat dad, Chris Bosh finally has begun to tell some of his side of the story.

Bosh has been reluctant to defend himself despite publication of details of a lawsuit that allege he broke up with his former girlfriend Allison Mathis when she was seven months pregnant with his child, leaving her destitute, lacking medical care and dealing with a difficult pregnancy.

The suit also alleges those factors left her no choice but to return to her mother's North Bethesda, Md., home where Mathis gave birth to a daughter, Trinity, on Nov. 2, 2008.

The lawsuit claims Bosh is refusing to financially support the child, a claim Bosh flat-out denied yesterday.

"I love my daughter," Bosh said in a statement delivered by a team spokesman following practice. "Of course I am financially supporting her."

The lawsuit, brought in a Maryland court by Mathis, seeks sole custody, child support and other relief.

In the immediate aftermath of the lawsuit being made public on Tuesday, Bosh would only say he loved his daughter, loved himself and respected his daughter's mother. His attorneys, meanwhile, said earlier this week they will respond to the Mathis filing "within the next week or so."

It was revealed yesterday in another Toronto publication that Bosh had in fact filed a petition in Dallas before his daughter was even born, and six weeks after he split up with Mathis, to begin arranging custody and financial support for the child.

Even that attempt by Bosh to take responsibility was construed by Mathis' attorney's as a self-serving gesture.

In Mathis' response to that petition, Bosh's actions are described as "a transparent attempt to impose the relatively parsimonious child support standards of that state on his obligation to provide support for his daughter."

In other words, Texas law, compared to Maryland law, is much less generous when it comes to child support settlement.

Yesterday, Bosh went through his normal between-games routine of video study, practice and weight training in preparation for the Raptors' home game tonight against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

His near-daily post-practice visit with the media was moving along normally as well until the ongoing court proceedings were raised which ended with Bosh walking away from the interview but not before the subject of where he draws the line when it comes to his own privacy was brought up.

"There's a barrier," Bosh said in explaining his eagerness to connect with his fan base and at the same time retain some level of privacy.

"It's cool to let people know certain things but privacy is a very important matter. We're all human and we like our privacy."

Asked where he drew the line, Bosh was even less exact.

"I think people know," he said. "If people are following you around and stuff like that, that's kind of an invasion (of your privacy). But that's the day and age we live in. Everyone feels closer. At the same time, we have to respect each other and just keep your distance a little bit."